


at arm’s length

by yellowbyun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst?, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, M/M, Mention of eating disorder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, growing apart?, humor?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27073330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowbyun/pseuds/yellowbyun
Summary: When the marriage of Baekhyun’s parents crumble, so does his relationship with Chanyeol.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	at arm’s length

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this story once before but ended up deleting it... here’s to second chances!

”My parents are getting a divorce.” Baekhyun is lying on Chanyeol’s bed when he drops the news, legs propped up against the wall and his head uncomfortably close to the edge.

Chanyeol stills from where he sits on the floor and the heated game playing out on the screen fades away.

He lowers his controller and removes his headphones and then braces himself for a conversation he isn’t prepared for.

”Man, that’s…”

”Expected.” Baekhyun finishes for him, catching onto his reluctant behavior. ”Dad hasn’t been home for a while,” He explains. ”The papers were on the dining room table this morning. It stuck out like a sore thumb, poking holes in the picture perfect setting of our kitchen.”

There’s explosions coming from the game and Chanyeol flinches. He can faintly make out Jongin swearing at him from where the headphones lie abandoned.

”My mom was there, too. She was sitting next to it. But her position is rather fixed,” He frowns. ”She’s always by the kitchen table after a fight, waiting for him and he always shows. Every time, no matter how long it’s been, he comes home smelling like a bar, his heavy footsteps shackled with regret and he sports the look of a man with a death sentence and mom sits there, back straight and smug like she knows she has him in the palm of her hand. He never fails to walk through that door. Except this time. What arrived were papers, and my mom dropped it when she realized what it was. The thud when the bundle hit the hardwood floor was not heavy enough to rival my dad’s footsteps.”

Chanyeol doesn’t know how to respond to that.

”Are you gonna be alright?”

Baekhyun shrugs.

There’s another explosion. Chanyeol’s character drops dead and Jongin shrieks through the headphones.

**G.A.M.E O.V.E.R.**

”I guess it was about time.”

**_______**

Chanyeol finds Baekhyun outside the school building by the bicycle stands. He’s crouching down and in the process of unlocking his bike.

”Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun looks over his shoulder and nods back in greeting and Chanyeol’s rapid steps slow down at the lack of response. He stops in front of Baekhyun with his bag slung over his shoulder, hand clutching at the strap.

”Let’s hang today.” He tries to look hopeful, or at least sound a little enthusiastic like he didn’t know the answer before he even thought of asking. ”We’re going to the arcade. They finally set up space invaders, you know, the one we’ve been dying to play since it was announced eons ago? Luhan’s cousin is working the shift and he promised to let us try it out first in exchange for Lu’s special edition game cards. You should’ve seen the way he was bawling, it was priceless! I think Jongin got it on tape, but anyway, you should come. It’s been a while since we’ve hung out.”

”I can’t.” Baekhyun clasps the straps of his helmet. ”I have to pick up Sehun from school.”

”He’s twelve.” Chanyeol states the obvious, his eyes narrowing. ”I’m sure he can find his way back home just fine.”

Baekhyun is persistent. ”I’m babysitting.”

”What about your mom? She’s not even going to work anymore.” Baekhyun takes a sharp inhale at that and Chanyeol ignores the way his jaw sets. ”Oh, _don’t_ you give me that look, you said so yourself. Come on, Baek, we miss having you around.”

Baekhyun has already made himself comfortable on his bicycle seat when he speaks.

”Not today.”

And then he’s off, leaving a dejected Chanyeol behind.

**_______**

”Are you okay?” Chanyeol finally decides to ask. The question comes out a little awkward, a few weeks too late and delivered in a location that isn’t exactly ideal.

It’s nine am and they’re having history class. Baekhyun walked in ten minutes ago, about forty minutes late to class wearing yesterday's clothes except more crumpled up. Like he slept with it on. The sleep marks, lined indentations of his zipper, across his cheek only confirms Chanyeol’s suspicion.

Baekhyun’s hand stops scribbling on the desk. Frozen, with the pen still upright.

He used to draw all sorts of cartoon characters that were mainly inspired by Saturday mornings by the TV, or Chanyeol with an inflated head only so that he could get a reaction out of his seatmate and Chanyeol’s roaring would have them both thrown out of class.

Nowadays he draws in angry circles.

”No.” Baekhyun doesn’t even look at him when he answers. He starts moving the pen in slower circle motions with applied pressure.

Chanyeol’s overwhelmed with the responsibility to say something. Should he support? Reach out? Whatever people do in these types of situations.

What is it they always say...

”If you need anything...” Chanyeol hears himself speak and he sounds _stupid, stupid, stupid_ because Baekhyun looks up at him and gives him that _look_. And suddenly the bright morning sun filtering through the classroom is dimmed and angry clouds hover above. No one else notices the ground vibrating under Chanyeol’s worn out sneakers. Their table shakes violently and expands and the small distance between them grows infinite all because of that look. The one that tells Chanyeol that he chose the wrong action out of the set of options presented to him. Normally he’d restart the game and try again, but something tells him things with Baekhyun aren’t as easy.

Chanyeol can see Baekhyun retreating into himself. Hiding out in the one place he can’t reach him, the space where Baekhyun doesn’t have to listen to one liners straight out of the mental health awareness brochure found outside the school nurses’ office.

The graphite tip of his pen snaps.

”I know where to find you.”

**_** **______**

”Hey.” Chanyeol stops walking and looks at Baekhyun’s retreating back. It takes a while for Baekhyun to pause his steps as if he’s considering to keep on walking and leave Chanyeol behind. There’s a significant distance between them.

”You haven’t said a single word this entire time.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. ”Maybe I just don’t fucking feel like talking.”

Chanyeol opens his mouth, then closes it, then reopens it. ”Alright, that’s fine. I’ll talk enough for the both of us then.” He tries.

That seems to agitate Baekhyun even more.

”No,” he takes a sharp inhale. ”Just shut up, okay? In fact, just leave me alone. Why are you even with me right now? I’m not even walking the direction to our neighborhood, and yet here you are, trailing me like some lost puppy. Have you considered that _maybe_ I’m walking to wherever the fuck we are right now because I want to be alone? I don’t want you here.”

Chanyeol backs away like he’s been physically pushed.

For a second Baekhyun seems to realize what he’s saying but then he sighs, shoulders slumping in a defeated manner and eyes trained on his shoes.

”Chanyeol,” he breathes. ”Kindly fuck off. Just this once.”

**_______**

”My mom cries at night.” It comes out hollow.

They’re in Baekhyun’s room. It’s been a while since Chanyeol visited but not much has changed except for the boy living in it.

Chanyeol wasn’t exactly invited over but Baekhyun bailed on their movie night again and Jongin and Luhan decided the vibe was officially off and called to vote Baekhyun out of the squad. Chanyeol screamed mutiny. Luhan pushing him out of the apartment and slamming the door in his face was their own way of throwing him off board too.

When he stomped his way to Baekhyun’s house to call him a colossal asshole, the front door was unlocked and the door slightly ajar. Chanyeol half believed there’d been a break-in and Baekhyun and his family were currently tied to chairs with all their belongings raided. It was Sehun welcoming him with an unimpressed stare when he walked past the kitchen that calmed him down. He didn’t spare Chanyeol a second glance. Instead, he turned his attention back to the package of ice cream he shouldn’t be eating for dinner.

He found Baekhyun upstairs, sitting at the top of the staircase and staring right at him. Chanyeol found that infinitely creepier than the movie Luhan had put on earlier that night.

”She looks so out of place. She’s there, but not quite. If I were to reach out to her I can’t be too sure my hand wouldn’t go right through her.”

”Baekhyun…”

 _Stop_.

”Her friend from work showed up at the door today. She was wondering where mom went, apparently she still hasn’t gone back to the office.” He laughs bitterly. ”She asked me if mom was home and I could’ve just said she was busy, or sleeping, or currently boozed out of her mind on the living room couch.”

”What did you say?”

”I said she doesn’t live here anymore, and it’s true. It’s more like she’s haunting...” He trails off, eyebrows knitting together.

”Haunting what?”

Baekhyun brings his knees under his chin when he says, ”Me.”

**_______**

It’s three months later and one hole too many on Baekhyun’s last pair of good pants when they find themselves at lunch hall.

Jongin and Luhan have still not made contact and Baekhyun and Chanyeol have been banned from their usual table, not that Baekhyun minds. Chanyeol doesn’t even think he has noticed their friends’ absence yet.

He settles into his seat. ”No lunch today, either?”

”Nope.” Baekhyun pops the ’P’ and swings back and forth on the soles of his shoes. He eyes Chanyeol’s lunch bag a little too long for it to be casual before looking away.

”Mom forgot to put something together.”

_Again?_

Baekhyun takes the seat across Chanyeol and pretends he can’t hear the sound of his stomach rumbling.

Chanyeol offers him a sympathetic look and half of his sandwich. Baekhyun only accepts the food.

”You couldn’t make some yourself?”

”I could.” He speaks between chews, it’s messy and lacks etiquette. There's an urgency to the way he eats. ”Except mom also forgot to go grocery shopping. There was just enough bread to pack for Sehun.”

Chanyeol pretends that he hasn’t heard that excuse before and slides his drink to Baekhyun who takes it readily, gulping down half the content.

”Money?”

”Scrambled together enough for groceries.” Baekhyun wipes his mouth with his arm sleeve, and Chanyeol’s eyes narrow at the stain it causes. He can’t help but wonder who’ll be washing that off.

”I’ll stop by the store after school.”

Chanyeol sighs into his sandwich.

”Swing by mine and we’ll go together.”

Later that evening Chanyeol keeps his eyes screwed shut as he provides a fatal strike against precious porcelain. The trout of the piggy bank survives and lands right by his foot.

 _Heartbreaking_ , is the first word that comes to Chanyeol.

 _Betrayal_ is second. The shattered porcelain pig stares back at him and he shudders.

 _Murder_ is what it is. But it’s worth it when it proves its weight in the groceries Chanyeol and Baekhyun carry back

**_______**

”Maybe it was in the way that he loved her.” Chanyeol can tell by the way he’s breathing that Baekhyun is holding back tears.

He wishes Baekhyun would just cry.

”Recklessly and without any consideration and it was the same way falling out of love.”

Chanyeol wants to scream. Hang up the phone and then pretend he doesn’t hear the continuous ringing that will follow if he does.

”Mom says he should apologize,” Baekhyun sniffles, and then clears his throat to cover it up. ”He ignored all the speed bumps and drove right into the pole of her heart.”

Chanyeol wants to tell Baekhyun he deserves an apology, too.

But the line goes dead.

**_______**

At a certain point, Chanyeol can’t be sure when it happens, ’mom’ and ’dad’ become father and mother. It’s distant and impersonal. As if Baekhyun is describing the peculiar behavior of two test subjects. Simply observing them.

”My mother says men don’t know the way to a woman’s heart and instead, they break their way through.” They’re sitting at the bustling food court and Chanyeol almost misses it, too immersed in his strawberry ice cream.

Baekhyun has barely touched his banana split, eyes preoccupied with the huge ”Happy Valentine's day!” poster hanging across the ceiling. The celebration is taking place one floor down and each year it comes with a theme.

This year's theme is Summer Love. There are a couple of themed booths set up to celebrate the occasion.

”She said father ate her flesh and left her all bones.” He looks away and stabs at the ice cream Chanyeol bought him, the action leaves specks on the jacket Chanyeol borrowed him and Baekhyun uses the mittens Chanyeol gifted him to dry it off.

”I told her it’s the eating disorder but you know what she said?” He puts the mittens down and starts using his finger to rub at a particularly stubborn stain, and Chanyeol takes out a wet wipe before crouching down next to him to assist. Baekhyun slumps. ”She said that anorexia and love, the soul sucking kind, both find their workings in the same part of the brain.”

_That’s horseshit._

Chanyeol purses his lips and let’s go of the jacket. This isn’t the type of conversation to have under rose tinted lights while surrounded by helium filled heart balloons and at least five couples sucking faces in their vicinity.

It’s a day to celebrate love but Baekhyun stands, or rather sits, in defiance.

Accusation loud in his throat.

There’s bottled rage exuding off Baekhyun when Chanyeol sits back down. The cracks are visible in his eyes, heat striking and Chanyeol’s ice cream melts and trickles down to his hand.

”Father ate at her, raw, and it shows.”

”My mom says love is nurturing.” Chanyeol provides unhelpfully as he wipes the stickiness out of his fingers.

Baekhyun looks at him like he doesn’t agree but let’s it go. He takes a dig at his ice cream but it’s more gentle this time.

”Maybe it does nurture, but what exactly is it nurturing?”

Chanyeol’s strawberry cone tastes like disappointment with a hint of his heart breaking.

**_______**

”I want to kill my father.” Baekhyun announces on the roof of Chanyeol’s new car. It’s not exactly new with a few decades down the line and more dents to count for it but it runs, and that is all that matters.

It’s close to midnight and they’ve parked in a location between nowhere and everywhere. It gives a perfect view of their town. Chanyeol looks over at Baekhyun, his colored cheeks and wilful stare into nothingness and sighs.

His words don’t surprise him anymore, but they still give off a sinking feeling. One accompanied by an image of Baekhyun drowning and dragging Chanyeol with him, clawing up his arm, breaking skin and digging into bone.

It _stings_.

”I want to release the energy he took from my mother back into the atmosphere and let it find its way back to her.”

**_______**

Maybe Chanyeol finally understands what Baekhyun meant when he said his father ate at his mother, because all he can think of whenever he sees the boy is how he has to give another piece of himself to keep Baekhyun whole.

”What?” Baekhyun stares back at him.

Is Baekhyun eating at him? _No, it’s not that._

”Hello,” Baekhyun snaps his fingers. ”Earth to Chanyeol.”

He can’t breathe because Baekhyun takes up all the air, and he can’t move because Baekhyun takes up a lot of space, can’t even think besides Baekhyun’s words that keep replaying in his mind. He’s not even sure who said what, and which thoughts originally belonged to him.

”Hey, what’s wrong?”

Baekhyun is not eating at him, he’s filling him up and Chanyeol feels _sick_.

”Nothing.”

Chanyeol doesn’t want to be around him anymore.

**_______**

”There’s Baekhyun!” Jongin’s mouth widens, ready to call out for the boy trudging across the school yard before reality sets in.

” _Oh_.”

Chanyeol jumps at the mention of Baekhyun, eyes frantically searching before it lands on him and then he’s ducking. Not that it makes any difference, Luhan isn’t big enough to cover him from where they’re sitting.

”Yeah, _oh_ ,” Says Luhan and then he’s elbowing Chanyeol who collapses on the grass with a grunt. ”Get up, idiot.” Luhan doesn’t even spare Chanyeol a glance from where he’s rolling around in pain, his eyes preoccupied with Baekhyun.

At first Chanyeol thinks he’s glaring, but it’s in the way his lips are stretched thin and eyebrows knitted together that makes him believe that Luhan looks worried. Maybe even a little hurt.

Jongin doesn’t look much different either.

”I don’t get it.” Jongin breaks the silence.

Luhan looks away when Baekhyun rounds a corner and out of their view.

”What’s there not to get? He clearly doesn’t want to be around us.”

Chanyeol sits up straight once the coast is clear, a frown marring his face. ”That’s not true. You kicked him out, remember?”

Luhan and Jongin share a look before Luhan shakes his head in disbelief, like Chanyeol can’t possibly be so stupid.

”We didn’t kick him out. You can’t exclude someone who left willingly. ”

”He didn’t leave though.” Chanyeol is quick to respond, irritation brewing underneath the surface.

”Oh, for god’s sake Chanyeol, pull your head out of his ass for a second, yeah? He may have been hovering around us but he left our group a long time ago. He never wanted to hang out anymore and he went AWOL on us every time we needed him.”

Chanyeol opens his mouth for input but Luhan raises a finger in warning. ”No, don’t you _dare_. You were there during Yixing’s birthday. Yixing!” He throws up his arms in exasperation. ”He came to visit from,” he pauses, and then freezes, before finally turning to Jongin. ”Where did he visit from?”

”Changsha.” Jongin supplies and Luhan shakes his head.

”No that’s where he’s from, fuck, _where_ is he? Whatever, that’s beside the point. Baekhyun was in charge of bringing the fucking cake and he never showed and don’t get me started on how he didn’t even contribute to Yixing’s present, I had to ask my cousin for the extra cash and you know what a sleazy fucker he is. I washed his car for a month!”

”Baekhyun is going through financial problems…”

”That’s not the point! If he didn’t have the money, fine! What it comes down to is the fact that he said he’d do it and then, without informing us, he bailed on paying and showing up. It was a disaster, our emergency cake tasted like sweaty socks.”

Jongin grimaces at the reminder.

”He didn’t celebrate my birthday either...” Chanyeol whispers.

”And you’re fine with that.” Luhan groans. ”Chanyeol, you are so willing to be his doormat and eagerly let him wipe all the shit on his shoes all over you, but we’re _done_.”

”But there’s the situation with his parents—”

”You don’t think I tried to understand him? Jongin and I tried to be there for him, but tell me, how are you there for someone who doesn’t want you around?”

”That’s not true.”

”Really? Then tell me, since we left, how many times has he asked about us?

Chanyeol’s silence is enough to answer the question.

**_______**

”Luhan and Jongin...” Chanyeol brings up later that weekend. He’s lounging on Baekhyun’s lumpy couch while the other is sitting on the floor, back against the couch and eyes on the TV, mindlessly scrolling through channels.

”What about them?” Baekhyun asks after a moment of silence, he settles for a cartoon show.

”Don’t you, like, miss having them around?”

Baekhyun doesn’t miss a beat when he says, ”No, not really.”

Chanyeol sits up straight, eyeing the back of Baekhyun’s head who couldn’t look any less bothered.

”Why not?”

Baekhyun shrugs. ”I just don’t have the energy to be around people.”

”Then what about me?” Chanyeol frowns. ”Do you have the energy for me?”

The way Baekhyun goes silent, his focus back on the show playing out before him finally makes Chanyeol feel like the ghost he’s been all along.

**_______**

”I’m sorry?” Luhan pauses midspeech before looking over at Chanyeol who’ve stayed seated beside them. ”Are you lost?”

Chanyeol is confused. ”What do you mean?”

”The bell rang a long time ago. This is the part where you run out the door and follow Baekhyun like a lost puppy.”

He pretends the last words don’t make him cringe and sounds less than amused when he rolls his eyes. ”Ha ha, very funny. No.”

Jongin and Luhan look at him like he’s grown a second head and then they share another one of those looks Chanyeol is not let in on anymore.

”Did something happen?” Jongin asks first.

Chanyeol tries to appear nonchalant when he shrugs, but it’s hard to do so when it feels like he’s carrying weights on his shoulders.

”He’ll be fine without me for one evening, is all.”

It's quiet again.

”Right…”

”Now where was I? Okay so, we go to that Minseok guy, yeah? And we’re like dude what the fu—”

Chanyeol zones out of the conversation immediately, losing himself in the struggle to not get up and catch up to Baekhyun.

_Damn it._

**_______**

Baekhyun runs his hands through the overgrown grassroots.

”I know there’s been complaints but mother thinks it’s better this way and I actually agree.”

Chanyeol takes another look around, frowning.

”Why?”

”Look at the grass. It's free, breathing and alive.”

Chanyeol scrunches his face before sitting down next to Baekhyun.

”It’s a mess.”

”A healthy mess.” Baekhyun tuts. ”Perfectly trimmed and supposedly cared for lawns are unnatural.”

”Most people would say they’re pleasing to the eyes.”

Baekhyun smiles. ”With a perfect lawn, you don’t allow the grass to grow tall enough to grow seed but you also water and fertilize it to keep it from going dormant.”

”When you put it that way...”

”It’s sick.” He yanks a patch of grass and let’s the strands trickle down between his fingers. ”We don’t let the grass die but we don’t let it reproduce either. Mother says lawns are nature purged of sex and death.”

**_______**

”Hey, where have you been?” Chanyeol looks around in the dark before he locates Baekhyun sitting on his porch. Their porch lights went out a while back and to no one's surprise stayed that way. Why he’s sitting in complete darkness at this hour, Chanyeol doesn’t know and he is not interested in finding out.

He sighs, wishing more than anything to just keep walking home in peace.

”What do you mean?”

He really doesn’t have the patience for Baekhyun’s shit right now.

Baekhyun makes his way over, stopping at a short distance from him. ”I haven’t seen much of you for a while.”

Chanyeol puts his hands in his pockets. ”Have you tried calling me? That might work. Communication is key, you know. That’s what you do to keep in contact with people. You used to be good at that once.”

Baekhyun seems to finally catch onto Chanyeol’s bad mood.

”In fact, I’ve texted you like a hundred times this week and I even called a fuckton more, but yeah, you haven’t seen much of me.”

Baekhyun takes a step back, and Chanyeol can faintly make out the frown on his face and he scoffs. Oh, _he’s_ the one upset.

”You’re a terrible friend.” He doesn’t want to cry but his eyes sting and he desperately tries to blink them away. ”I’ve had the worst week and I just really needed a friend, and yeah, I have Jongin and Luhan; whose birthday was 2 days ago by the way, but for some ridiculous reason I thought that you could be that person. That you could for a moment be my friend again.”

He doesn’t let Baekhyun get a word in and it’s not like he can say anything that'll make it better anyway.

”You know, I don’t even understand half the shit you say, like, I can’t even begin to think of what kind of fucked up thought process you have that stiches those sentences together but I _listen_ and _try_ to be there, I really fucking try because that’s what you’re supposed to do for your _friends_. But you,” he hates the way his voice cracks. ”You’re the absolute worst!”

”I look at you and I can’t fucking breathe.” He swallows. ”And it’s not that you make the butterflies in my stomach go haywire and you take my breath away, no, your presence steps on my fucking throat and cuts my airflow off.”

Baekhyun tries to take a step forward but he pauses when Chanyeol backs away, refusing to get close. ”I just wish you weren’t like this anymore, and I hoped I could be the one to help but, Baekhyun, there’s no helping you.”

”Chanyeol, I’m so so—”

”No, I’m sorry.” Chanyeol stops him and runs his hands across his face. ”Stop.”

He looks at Baekhyun.

”I just need you to kindly fuck off. Just this once.”

**_______**

Chanyeol is in the middle of reaching for his favorite breakfast cereal when he hears a familiar voice calling out for him. He topples over a few packages when he jumps in surprise and if anyone asks, he did not let out a high pitched shriek.

Baekhyun actually laughs and Chanyeol is momentarily dazed. He’s not sure if he’s clutching his heart due to the initial fright or the sight of the boy in front of him.

”Chanyeol?” His mom calls.

The spell breaks.

So here’s the deal, Chanyeol and Baekhyun can not be seen together. It had to do with Chanyeol’s mom sitting him down after one of his late night outings and she was very clear when she said, to Chanyeol’s best recollection, ” _This is unacceptable behavior, something, something, something. I can’t have my son roaming the streets at god knows what hour, something, something, something, Baekhyun something, something. He is terrible influence something, something, something and you are not allowed to be around him anymore_.”

He’s sure there was more to that conversation but his mind immediately began to work on ways to meet up with Baekhyun behind her back. His mom means well, really, and she has nothing against Baekhyun personally but it’s not like Chanyeol comes home shitting rainbows every time he goes out with Baekhyun. The down spiral effect is obvious, couple that with Baekhyun’s family affairs finally reaching the public, it wasn’t too hard to understand why.

”Shit.” He grabs Baekhyun and they move over to the aisle with the pickles, the kind his mom absolutely despises and would never go near.

”Listen,” he looks over his shoulder to make sure they’re safe. ”I can’t talk right now.”

”No?”

”Nope.” He shakes his head for emphasis. ”I’ll just see you around, yeah?”

”Where?” Baekhyun grabs his hand when he gets ready to leave. ”You don’t come over anymore.”

That is true. After their conversation the other week Chanyeol’s been actively avoiding him. Not that it was hard. Baekhyun isn’t in a lot of places, but he had the feeling he was waiting for him. Keeping himself preoccupied so he wouldn’t seek Baekhyun out, now _that_ was the real struggle. Luckily, Luhan and Jongin finally fully accepted him back to the squad last Wednesday and that made it significantly easier.

Chanyeol is prepared to reassure, that’s what his whole entire being is programmed to do when it comes to Baekhyun. Coddle him, make the blows softer, be the doormat but he looks at Baekhyun and something breaks, or withers, and Chanyeol let’s go of Baekhyun’s hand.

”It’s not like you have the energy to be around me anyway.”

Baekhyun sounds small when he says, ”I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

His mom calls from again and he backs away.

”I have to go.”

**_______**

”My mom said I can’t hang out with you anymore.”

Baekhyun picks at the frayed hem of his jeans. ”I figured it’d come eventually.”

”Baekhyun,” Chanyeol sighs apologetically. ”It’s not you. It’s…”

”My mother.” Baekhyun finishes with a doleful stretch of his lips before looking down at his sneakers, the white now muddied down to a dull shade of brown. ”But here’s the thing, Park. My mother is _of_ me.”

**_______**

”You’re really not hanging out with Baekhyun anymore?”

They're at Jongin’s and Chanyeol is currently hogging the couch like he pays the bills in the house and has taken full control over the remote. Luhan is in the kitchen, creating a mess that could rival the aftermath of a hurricane.

”Why do you keep asking that? The answer is still no.”

Jongin pouts and plops down on Chanyeol’s feet. ”But he’s _so_ lonely, it’s like watching a puppy get rained on and you just want to run over and cradle him in your arms.”

”Don’t worry he likes the rain.” Chanyeol reaches for the popcorn and grabs a handful before shoving it into his mouth in one go.

”Wow, you’re serious.”

”Yeah, and what’s this sudden sympathy? You guys ditched him first!”

”True, but that was easier done knowing he still had you hovering around him!” He throws his hands up. ”Man, if I have to watch him sit by himself at the cafeteria one more time I might actually run over and just,” he wraps his arms around himself and rubs his back.

”You do that.” Chanyeol hums, sliding down the couch and making himself more comfortable. ”Just keep me out of it.”

**_______**

”A lady came by our house this weekend.”

Chanyeol jumps and steadies himself by leaning against the locker. ”Shit, fuck! Baekhyun, you scared the living crap out of me.”

Chanyeol might have been waiting for this confrontation. He just wasn’t expecting Baekhyun to barge into the locker room after P.E and jump it on him while he was still half dressed.

”She asked me how I was, it’s weird.”

Baekhyun takes a seat and stares at the grey tile wall ahead of him. Chanyeol can’t tell if it’s his way of giving him some semblance of privacy or if he’s actually deep in thought. He quickly puts on his hoodie and shuts the locker before sitting down next to him.

”What’s weird?”

”The look in her eyes and the rhythmic clicking of her pen. Like an impatient child in a restaurant waiting for the food to arrive.”

”Weird.” Chanyeol reluctantly agrees.

The locker room is empty save for the two of them. This is what Chanyeol gets for staying back after class. But then again, Chanyeol didn’t have much of a choice being the unathletic person he is. His grades are slipping and if buttering up to the gym teacher keeps it above average, then so be it. Even if that means helping with clean-up after class.

He glances over at the clock above the door. He has English in five minutes.

”She didn’t want to know how I was. She wanted to dissect me and disassemble my thoughts.”

”Baekhyun—” Chanyeol starts.

”Chanyeol.” Baekhyun counters, it carries an air of finality and the commanding tone successfully drains Chanyeol of any initial annoyance. He sits back, words dried out on his tongue and waits for Baekhyun to continue.

”Tell your mother we’re not interested in any more visitors.” Baekhyun stands and heads for the exit. Chanyeol gets ready to watch him leave.

He pauses when his fingers curl around the door handle.

”But do let her know the curtains will remain open during regular hours to satisfy her curiosity.”

And then he’s out the door.

**_______**

Jongin bangs his head against the table. ”One more month.” He repeats over and over.

”One more month and this will all be behind us.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and licks the pudding stuck on the plastic seal before digging in.

”Until next semester,” he makes sure to remind between spoons and Jongin groans.

”Should've studied.” Luhan joins, having heard the conversation on his way over. He shakes his head at the state of Jongin and drops his bag on the seat next to him and slumps against the chair.

Jongin lifts his head. ”Yeah?” He scoffs. ”And what was _your_ score, Mr Genius?”

Luhan raises his hands in defeat. ”Hey, I never said I studied!” And then he snatches the pudding out of Chanyeol’s hand whose protests fall on deaf ears.

”The thing is,” Luhan says licking the plastic spoon clean. ”You don’t see me complaining now do you?” He points the spoon at him. ”Fail with your chest or hit the books, Kim.”

Chanyeol and Jongin are in sync when they say. ”Asshole.”

**_______**

”I think I'm gonna join the basketball team next year.” Chanyeol shuts his locker and slings his bag over his shoulder.

”Is that Baekhyun?” Jongin looks ahead ignoring Chanyeol.

Chanyeol looks over and there Baekhyun is, with Kim Junmyeon by his side.

”Yeah,” he says before averting his gaze. ”Listen, I think I could really make it, you know? I have, like, all the qualities needed. I’m basically a star in the making.”

”Qualities for what?” Luhan sneaks up on them and wraps an arm around Chanyeol’s neck and pulls him down the way he knows annoys Chanyeol and he struggles out of Luhan’s grip before pushing him away.

”Basketball.” He continues, his fingers running through his hair in an attempt to tame the mess Luhan caused. ”I’m gonna try out—”

”Is that Baekhyun?” Luhan interrupts.

”Yeah,” Jongin answers immediately and makes his way over to Luhan to gossip. ”And he’s with Kim Junmyeon.”

Chanyeol purses his lips. ”Guys.”

”And guess which room they walked out of?”

”I’m right here.” He sighs. ”Speaking.”

Luhan looks between Jongin and the pair with curious eyes. ”Where?”

”Counsellor’s office.”

Luhan’s mouth makes a circle shape, pretending to look scandalized.

”Seriously, guys.”

”Huh, that’s… interesting.”

Jongin opens his mouth to continue before Chanyeol interrupts.

”Hello!” His outburst catches the attention of more than his two idiot friends.

”What?” They say in unison.

”I’m gonna join the basketball team!”

Luhan narrows his eyes at that. ”Jeez, okay, no need to shout.”

”You weren’t listening to me, assholes. Once I join and climb the social ranks I'll make sure to leave you two at the bottom.”

Jongin laughs at his aspiration and planned betrayal. ”What? You think you’re Kris Wu level now?”

”Pfft,” Chanyeol huffs. ”I’m better, more handsome and definitely taller.”

”I’m gonna tell him you said that.” Luhan sing-songs, and the trio make their way to the exit.

”As if.”

”Our mom’s hang out all the time, remember? They’re the ones who spread the rumor that your mom buys her veggies at the almost expired section.”

Chanyeol stops walking. ”Really? Dude, my mom _hates_ your mom.”

”Rightfully so. But the point is that they’re this,” he locks his pinkies together to demonstrate, ”close and i’ll let that comment slip during one of our forced joint dinners.”

Chanyeol takes a deep breath. ”You… wouldn’t.”

”Oh?” He raises an eyebrow, and then walks away.

Chanyeol considers the chances of winning if he fights Kris Wu one on one. The boy walks by just then with his entourage and perhaps Chanyeol may have overestimated their height difference. Just a tiny bit.

If it came down to it, he could do it. The circumstances just needed to be on his side like maybe if it was a surprise attack, in the dark and Kris had night blindness and he lost all his limbs to a prior accident.

That or he just puts his pride aside and runs after Luhan. That fucker.

”Don’t make—” Chanyeol tries to threaten Luhan but immediately flinches when Jongin flicks his ear. ”The fuck, Jongin!” He rubs the sensitive spot with an annoyed expression.

Jongin rolls his eyes and grabs him by the shoulders. ”Don’t be too obvious now but Baekhyun is totally staring.”

The first half of Jongin’s sentence is thrown out the window when Chanyeol not so discreetly looks over his shoulder and straight into Baekhyun’s eyes.

_Yep, definitely staring._

Kim Junmyeon is talking to him, but he pauses when he notices Baekhyun isn’t even listening. He follows Baekhyun’s gaze and it lands right on Chanyeol who decides right then he’s had enough.

He turns away and runs after Luhan’s retreating back.

”Luhan! Don’t you fucking dare!”

**_______**

”Finally!” Jongin spins around outside the school premises, arms held up high in victory and bliss.

Chanyeol and Luhan watch him while sharing a pack of chips.

”Doesn’t he have summer school?” Chanyeol says between crunches.

Luhan elbows him and the chips spill on the ground. ”Don’t ruin it for him.”

Chanyeol nurses his arm with a pout, before smiling smugly.

”Don’t _you_ have summer school, too?”

Luhan elbows him again. ”Don’t ruin it for me.”

The pain is totally worth it.

**_______**

”Father says he’s gonna take me fishing for the weekend.” Baekhyun drops a packed bag on the pavement and then joins it. ”To teach me how to be a real man.”

Chanyeol frowns, and closes the mailbox. He ran into Baekhyun during a routine mail check. Ain’t he the luckiest.

”That’ll... do it.”

Baekhyun hums. ”I wonder if that includes breaking hearts.”

Chanyeol has a lot to say about that, but ultimately, walking back inside is his best choice.


End file.
